MADISON, Wis. Behind a career-high 15 points from senior Joe Krabbenhoft, the Badgers defeated Green Bay, 77-57 Saturday night at the Kohl Center. The Badgers used balanced attack, in which four players scored in double figures, to dispatch the Phoenix and move to 8-2 on the season.

Brian Lucas went Beyond the Box with notes from the game.-----------------------------------------------------------

Just like you would expect out of two rivals who know each other so well, the score stayed tight throughout the first half. Wisconsin trailed 21-19 with 7:10 left before intermission but used an 8-0 run to open a 27-21 lead. Keaton Nankivil got things started with a two-handed dunk on a Trevon Hughes assist. Hughes, who pushed the tempo and used penetration to create, scored two of his own.

Green Bay would climb within one, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Hughes and Jason Bohannon put UW ahead 39-32 at the half. The Badgers continually worked the ball inside, resulting in a 12-6 advantage on points in the paint and a 51.9 shooting percentage during the half.

Nankivil would help Wisconsin stretch a seven-point halftime lead to 13 points with a baseline dunk that pushed the score to 49-36. Joe Krabbenhoft scored nine of his career-high 15 points after intermission and keyed a 12-0 run for the Badgers. The Phoenix would trim the lead to five at 52-47 with 10:58 remaining, but Wisconsin held them scoreless for the next four and half minutes, building a 64-47 lead to take control of the game and coast to a 77-57 win.

Wisconsin will return to action next Saturday, Dec. 20th after taking the week off for finals. That game against Coppin State is set to begin at 5 p.m. at the Kohl Center. Big Ten Network will televise the game and UWBadgers.com will have all the information.